Manny Pacquiao is preparing to fight Mexican brawler Brandon Rios in November in a fight that will play a huge role in determining Pacquiao's future. If Pacman drops the fight to Rios, his trainer Freddie Roach says he will retire.
Should Pacquiao win impressively, however, Roach believes his fighter will be back in the thick of things in terms of truly big-money bouts. Roach hasn't been quiet in his criticism of Juan Manuel Marquez, though, who knocked out Pacman when the two met last December.
Marquez was 0-2-1 in three previous bouts with Pacquiao, and is now shutting the door on his greatest rival in the wake of his explosive win.
When asked if he had a problem with Marquez's moving on from the rivalry Roach said, "Yeah because the thing is before he won the last fight, he always wanted a rematch and now that it's changed hands, he's satisfied with the win. But the thing is I think we deserve one more shot back. If he doesn't fight us I think he's a [expletive]."
Roach said that the opportunity to fight Marquez could spark a clamoring once more for a nearly-forgotten megafight with Mayweather. About two years ago boxing buzzed nonstop about a potential super fight; now, after back-t0-back Pacquiao losses to Tim Bradley and Marquez, the fervor is gone.
"If Manny is impressive, wins by knockout and impresses the world, I think people will start talking about that [Mayweather] fight again," Roach said. "But at this point, seeing him get knocked out in his last fight, nobody is really pushing for that fight. I think a win over Marquez will push us a little bit closer."
A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is highly unlikely no matter Pacman's performance against Rios in Macau, China. Amir Khan has also made noise about facing Floyd, but realistically the winner of Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse, who square off on the Mayweather-Alvarez undercard, is probably next in line.
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